Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr., better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes (October 11, 1945 - June 11, 2015), was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer. He most recently worked for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) behind the scenes as a Creative director and trainer for NXT. Rhodes is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. He was considered a star wrestler and presented the persona of an American everyman, the American Dream personified.
The bleached blonde, lisping, wildly charismatic 6’2″ 275-pounder with a mangled forehead was a combination of Muhammad Ali, Thunderbolt Patterson, and improvisational genius.
Early Life and Career
Born the son of a plumber in a poor area of Austin, Texas, Rhodes mixed a blue-collar work ethic with a soul singer’s charisma to become one of the most in-demand stars of the territory days of the 1970s and ’80s. After graduating from Albert Sidney Johnston High School in Austin, Rhodes played baseball and football at West Texas State (now known as West Texas A&M University). In 1967, Rhodes saw an advertisement in the newspaper for Tony Santos' professional wrestling promotion Big Time Wrestling based in Boston. Rhodes drove to Boston, and despite not having any wrestling experience, bluffed his way into working for the company by using his real life friendships with Bobby Duncum and the Funk brothers. Billed as Dusty Runnels, one of his first matches was for the BTW World Heavyweight title against champion Frank Scarpa in the Boston Arena.
Having little money, Rhodes slept in his car and spent Thanksgiving with Rufus R. Rhodes moved on to Fritz Von Erich's Texas territory World Class Championship Wrestling in 1968, at that time also called Big Time Wrestling. It was in Texas where Rhodes first adopted the ring name "Dusty Rhodes". Upon meeting Rhodes, Gary Hart suggested that he change his ring name to "Lonesome Rhodes", a character Andy Griffith portrayed in the film A Face in the Crowd. Rhodes reportedly replied: "Well ... I don't plan on being 'Lonesome'. I think I'll stick with Dusty." Hart took an immediate liking to Rhodes and convinced Von Erich of the young wrestler's potential. Rhodes did not have a typical wrestler's physique, but he was well known for his personality, charisma and interviews.
Rhodes started his career as a rule-breaking heel, tagging with fellow Texan Dick Murdoch to form the tag team The Texas Outlaws in the American Wrestling Association (AWA). In 1974, Rhodes turned face after turning on tag team partner Pak Song and manager Gary Hart during a match in Florida against Eddie and Mike Graham.
Read also: "American Dream" Legacy
This led him to break out as a solo face superstar, primarily in Florida, referring to himself as "Stardust", the "White Soul King", and the "American Dream", a working class hero. On November 25, 1978, Rhodes won a single-night tournament to capture the vacant NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship, with injured champion Steve Keirn presenting him with the title in an emotional moment.
NWA and Jim Crockett Promotions
He eventually began working with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) in the Mid-Atlantic. While there, he formed a team with Manny Fernandez. He also teamed with Magnum T.A. as "America's Team". The tandem began teaming up to oppose the Four Horsemen and The Russians in 1985. They were one of the more dominant tag teams in the promotion until 1986, when Magnum's career was ended in a car wreck. Subsequently, he teamed with Nikita Koloff as The Super Powers.
Rhodes had feuds with stars such as Abdullah the Butcher, Pak Song, Terry Funk, Kevin Sullivan, Blackjack Mulligan, Nikita Koloff, Harley Race, "Superstar" Billy Graham, "Crippler" Ray Stevens and, most notably, The Four Horsemen (especially Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard). Rhodes, Flair and Race each fought each other many times over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.
On August 21, 1979, “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes defeated Harley Race to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. His reign was brief - Race regained the title just days later. Following that, Rhodes continued to work in NWA territories (especially Florida and the Mid-Atlantic) as a top babyface. He eventually reacquired the NWA World title in later years (he became a three-time champion overall) as his status grew.
By the mid-1980s, Dusty had begun transitioning into a behind-the-scenes role in Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) as a booker / creative force. He is credited with conceiving or helping name key “supercard” events and gimmicks (e.g. WarGames, BattleBowl) and popularizing what came to be called the “Dusty finish” - matches ending in controversial referee situations.
Read also: Unveiling Anthony-Rhodes Relationship
In 1983, Dusty Rhodes was the driving force behind the first Starrcade event (titled Starrcade ’83: A Flare for the Gold) under the NWA/JCP banner. He helped originate the idea, named the show, and booked its matches. The headline was a rematch between Ric Flair and Harley Race, with the narrative of Race’s ruthless tactics and Flair’s underdog status establishing the drama. Starrcade ’83 was a success: it drew about 15,447 in attendance at the Greensboro Coliseum (plus closed-circuit audiences) and cemented the concept of an annual “supercard” event for JCP/NWA.
Rhodes became a booker for Jim Crockett Promotions after he won the NWA World Television Championship in 1985. He is credited with inventing many pay-per-view names and gimmicks, such as War Games, BattleBowl, and Lethal Lottery. During his stint as booker, Jim Crockett Promotions was engulfed in aggressive competition with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
When the WWF introduced Mike Jones as Ted DiBiase's bodyguard, Bobby Heenan suggested to name the character Virgil as an inside joke on Dusty's real name. Years later, when Jones appeared in JCP's successor World Championship Wrestling in a similar role, he was named Vincent, in reference to WWF owner Vince McMahon, reportedly again at Heenan's suggestion. The joke continued later in WCW when Jones changed his name again, this time to Shane, the same as Vince's son's, Shane McMahon.
Rhodes was fired from Jim Crockett Promotions after Starrcade '88, because of a taboo on-screen bloodletting (laid down by the Turner Broadcasting System following their purchase of the company) during a November 26 altercation with the Road Warriors. Furious with the interference, Rhodes booked an angle where Road Warrior Animal pulled a spike out of his shoulder pad and jammed it in Rhodes' eye busting it wide open. Rhodes was then fired.
Best Promos - Dusty Rhodes "Funky Like a Monkey"
The "Hard Times" Promo
During a taping which took place at The Omni on September 29, 1985, Rhodes would save Flair from a beatdown at hands of Ivan and Nikitia Koloff and Krusher Krushchev, only for Flair to then turn on Rhodes and have Ole and Arn Anderson assist him in breaking Rhodes's ankle; this also forced Rhodes to vacate his NWA Television Championship.
Read also: From Announcer to Executive
One of his most famous promos was his "Hard Times" interview during his feud with Ric Flair:
First of all, I would like to thank the many, many fans throughout this country that wrote cards and letters to Dusty Rhodes, The American Dream, while I was down. Secondly, I want to thank Jim Crockett Promotions for waitin' and takin' the time 'cause I know how important it was, Starrcade '85 it is to the wrestling fans, it is to Jim Crockett promotions, and Dusty Rhodes The American Dream. With that wait, I got what I wanted, Ric Flair the World's Heavyweight Champion. I don't have to say a whole lot more about the way I feel about Ric Flair; no respect, no honor. He put hard times on Dusty Rhodes and his family. You don't know what hard times are, daddy. Hard times are when the textile workers around this country are out of work, they got four or five kids and can't pay their wages, can't buy their food. Hard times are when the auto workers are out of work and they tell 'em to go home. And hard times are when a man has worked at a job for thirty years, thirty years, and they give him a watch, kick him in the butt and say "hey a computer took your place, daddy", that's hard times! That's hard times! And Ric Flair you put hard times on this country by takin' Dusty Rhodes out, that's hard times. And we all had hard times together, and I admit, I don't look like the athlete of the day supposed to look. My belly's just a lil' big, my heiny's a lil' big, but brother, I am bad. There were two bad people... One was John Wayne and he's dead brother, and the other's right here. Nature Boy Ric Flair, the World's Heavyweight title belongs to these people. I'mma reach out right now, I want you at home to know my hand is touchin' your hand for the gathering of the biggest body of people in this country, in this universe, all over the world now, reachin' out because the love that was given me and this time I will repay you now. Because I will be the next World's Heavyweight Champion of this hard time blues. And Ric Flair, Nature Boy... Let me leave you with this. One way to hurt Ric Flair, is to take what he cherishes more than anything in the world and that's the World's Heavyweight title. I'm gon' take it, I been there twice. This time when I take it daddy, I'm gon' take it for you. Let's gather for it. Don't let me down now, 'cause I came back for you, for that man up there that died 10-12 years ago and never got the opportunity to see a real World's Champion. And I'm proud of you, thank God I have you, and I love you.
The promo apparently resonated with wrestling fans so much that people came to him in arenas in tears to thank him for "honoring their plight". Rhodes is often considered to be one of the most innovative and creative bookers in the history of professional wrestling.
World Wrestling Federation (WWF)
In late 1989 Rhodes came to the WWF as the yellow polka-dotted "Common Man" Dusty Rhodes, a gimmick some felt was intended to humiliate him due to his synonym with the rival JCP/WCW, although Dusty later admitted that the gimmick and outfit were his own ideas. He was managed by Sapphire, who was intended to represent the "common woman".
During his early time in the WWF, Rhodes was embroiled in a heated feud with "Macho King" Randy Savage and his manager/partner Sensational Queen Sherri, who in turn found a rival in Sapphire. After a particularly intense confrontation between the two couples, Savage's ex-manager Miss Elizabeth allied herself with Rhodes and Sapphire and was instrumental in helping them win the WWF's first mixed tag-team match during WrestleMania VI.
Sapphire, however, left Rhodes during SummerSlam 1990 for The Million-Dollar Man's money, Afterwards, Rhodes dropped the Polka dots and feuded with DiBiase and Virgil, which also resulted in the national debut of his son Dustin at the 1991 Royal Rumble.
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and ECW
Rhodes returned to WCW shortly afterwards as a member of WCW's booking committee. He also served as the manager of Ron Simmons, from 1991 to 1992, and was in Simmons' corner on August 2, 1992 when he defeated Big Van Vader to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. He later joined the broadcast team, usually working with Tony Schiavone on WCW Saturday Night.
In 1994, Rhodes returned to the ring to team up with his son Dustin along with The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags) against Col. Robert Parker and his Stud Stable (Arn Anderson, Bunkhouse Buck & Terry Funk).
Rhodes was originally on the side of WCW when its battle with the New World Order (nWo) began in 1996. At Souled Out 1998, Larry Zbyszko asked Rhodes, who was working the PPV broadcast, to accompany him to the ring for his match against Scott Hall. Zbyszko won the match by disqualification due to interference by Louie Spicolli. Rhodes entered the ring, delivering his trademark elbow smashes to Spicolli as Zbyszko stood and grabbed Hall. Rhodes went to elbow Hall, but seemingly inadvertently hit Zbyszko instead. Hall then pointed to Rhodes as he revealed an nWo shirt. The three began to drop repeated elbows on Zbyszko before Rhodes announced "That's tradition, WCW! Bite this!". Announcer Tony Schiavone left the broadcast booth in shock but later returned, kayfabe ripping Rhodes for his actions for most of the rest of the night. He eventually left WCW and went to Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) where he engaged in a feud with the "King of Old School" Steve Corino.
TNA and Independent Circuit
Rhodes began appearing with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 2003, returning to the ring to feud against the heel Sports Entertainment Xtreme faction led by Vince Russo, and later becoming the Director of Authority at their November 7, 2004 pay-per-view, Victory Road. At the same time, Rhodes acted as head booker and writer. In May 2005, TNA President Dixie Carter asked Rhodes to move onto a creative team, which included Jeremy Borash, Bill Banks and Scott D'Amore.
Rhodes made his first indy circuit appearance on April 12, 2003 for Ring of Honor (ROH), when he participated in the "I Quit Bunkhouse Riot" as a member of Homicide's team. On December 12, Rhodes defeated Jerry Lawler at an International Wrestling Cartel (IWC) show that also featured Mick Foley as the special guest referee.
Return to WWE
In September 2005, Rhodes signed a WWE Legends deal and was brought onto the Creative Team as a creative consultant.
Dusty Rhodes was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on March 31, 2007 by his two sons, Dustin and Cody.
A few weeks before Survivor Series 2006, Rhodes returned to WWE to be a part of Team WWE Legends, led by Ric Flair. The team, consisting of Sgt. Slaughter, Ron Simmons, and Arn Anderson (acting as manager) competed against the Spirit Squad at Survivor Series.
A few weeks before WWE's 2007 broadcast of the Great American Bash, Dusty Rhodes returned to WWE television to feud with Randy Orton. At The Great American Bash, Orton defeated Rhodes in a Texas Bullrope match after Rhodes was nailed in the head with the cowbell. The following night on Raw, after Orton defeated Rhodes' son Cody Rhodes, Orton delivered a vicious kick to Dusty's head while "The American Dream" was trying to tend to his son.
On March 29, 2008, Rhodes inducted his mentor Eddie Graham into the WWE Hall of Fame. Two nights later, on the March 31 edition of Raw, Rhodes was seen in the crowd of superstars paying their respects to Ric Flair during his farewell ceremony.
Rhodes made an appearance on the 800th episode of Raw, where he was involved in an in-ring segment, which saw superstars including Kung Funaki, Hornswoggle, The Boogeyman, Jesse, Festus, and the commentators Jerry "The King" Lawler and Michael Cole, dancing in the ring.
On April 4, 2009, Rhodes inducted The Funk Brothers (Terry Funk and Dory Funk, Jr.) into the WWE Hall of Fame. On August 31, 2009, Rhodes was the special guest host of Raw and booked a match between his son, Cody and Randy Orton for Orton's WWE Championship with John Cena as the special guest referee. Before the match began, he turned on Cena as all three members of Legacy took him out along with DX. After the assault, Orton shook hands and praised Rhodes, but gave him an RKO. He reappeared on June 7, 2010, to help Quinton Jackson and Sharlto Copley defeat I.R.S., Ted DiBiase, Jr., Virgil, and Roddy Piper.
He reappeared on the November 2 edition of WWE NXT, during his son, Goldust's (kayfabe) wedding with his NXT rookie, Aksana. On February 25, 2011 edition of Smackdown, Rhodes briefly turned heel when he helped his son Cody attack Rey Mysterio in a setup. Rhodes turned face when he inducted the Road Warriors in the WWE Hall of Fame. He appeared on the November 29, 2011 special holiday edition of SmackDown backstage with Roddy Piper and the rest of SmackDown roster. On the March 4, 2013 episode of "Old School Raw", Rhodes was attacked by Jack Swagger during Swagger's match with Hacksaw Jim Duggan. He returned on the March 25 episode of Raw in a Hall of Fame panel Q-and-A session with John Cena and The Rock.
Personal Life and Death
Rhodes has been hospitalized due to infection on his left foot which caused by snake bite. Rhodes is divorced from his first wife Sandra and is now married to a woman named Michelle. He has four children, Dustin, Cody, Teil and Kristin Runnels Ditto, a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader.
On June 10, 2015, paramedics responded to Rhodes' home in Orlando, Florida, after getting a call reporting that he had fallen. They drove him to a nearby hospital, where he died the next day. A few days later, TMZ released Rhodes' 911 phone call in which the dispatcher was rude to his wife, causing her to hang up.
At the 2015 Money in the Bank pay-per-view event, a ten-bell salute was given in honor of Rhodes, with the entire WWE roster and the McMahon family on the entrance ramp. The next night on Raw, they honored him with a video tribute and a special after Raw on the WWE Network.
Championships and Accomplishments
Rhodes is a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and has also won the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship once, the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship ten times, the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) seven times and the NWA National Heavyweight Championship one time. He has also won many other championships during his wrestling career.
| Championship | Times Won |
|---|---|
| NWA World Heavyweight Championship | 3 |
| NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship | 1 |
| NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship | 10 |
| NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) | 7 |
| NWA National Heavyweight Championship | 1 |
He is one of six men inducted into each of the WWE Hall of Fame, the WCW Hall of Fame, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.